Lucien Devernois
Origins Lucien is one oft the protagonists in the „Three Evangelists“ series, an overly focused historian who is, professionally only interested in Wold War I. His model from Ceux qui vont mourir te saluent, 1994 (German: Im Schatten des Palazzo Farnese) is named David “Nero” Larmier but he is mostly inspired from Fred Varga's brother Stéphane Audoin-Rouzeau. Background Biography Lucien is suggested for Marc’s plan to rent “The Shack” by Mathias. Marc is at first reluctant at the thought of having to live under the same roof with a World War I-specialist, but finally accepts Lucien’s financial indispensability. Other than Marc and Mathias, Lucien enters the stage with a job, he is teaching history at a private school, but accepts their offer due to his underpayment. He is about the same age as them. Appearances Despite being a protagonist of the Three Evangelist series, Lucien is almost not mentioned in the second part, Un peu plus loin sur la droite, (german: Das Orakel von Port Nicolas), and takes no action other than annoying Marc. As every part of the series has one of the evangelists as a key character though, he plays a very important role in Sans feu ni lieu, ''(German: ''Der untröstliche Witwer von Montparnasse) and makes the solving of the case possible with his knowledge and steadfastness concerning his (correct) theory. This resembles Nero’s role in Ceux qui vont mourir te salient. Person Physical appearance Little is known about Lucien’s stature – he has never been mentioned to be smaller than the fragile Marc or taller than the gigantic Mathias, which leads to the assumption his body type is settled somewhere between the both extremes. His work and civil clothes are the same: A simple shirt and a tie, which he allows himself to loosen a bit when he is at home. This tie is borrowed by Marc in Debout les morts'' (German:'' Die schöne Diva von Saint-Jacques'') to achieve a more trustworthy look. Furthermore, he wears a grey sack coat and british styled shoes. His hair is brown, with an interesting detail: There is a strand of hair that keeps falling back into Lucien’s face, giving him the welcome opportunity to casually or, by choice, dramatically throw it back. His pale face itself is apparently softly shaped, similar to a child's. Personality Lucien’s main attribute is his love for conflict and drama of any kind. He often indirectly and directly provokes fights with Marc, the topic may change between the calibre of a hastily (for Lucien’s taste too sloppily) packed suitcase to this of a possible serial killer whom Lucien has granted a walk. His arrogance enables him to this act as well as to a downright army of lectures and quotes, and is also a main reason for Marc’s occasional aggressions towards Lucien. Lucien’s habit of picking fights is probably inspired by his belief of collisions being educational to the watcher, as deducible from his view on World War I. His omnipresent pride is the foundation of Lucien’s rambles, circumlocutory, high-handed (literally, too), dramatic and, if not cut off in time, very long. Ending a harangue is only possible for him when his foregone action has been absurd or shocking enough to dispossess his counterparts of their power of speech. This circumstance may seem unable to reach, but for Lucien, it is not, although he still is shut up by Marc or Mathias most of the time. Lucien’s permanent pessimism doesn’t help his listeners either. His obsession with World War I is going far enough to let him speak of the adjacent households as “east front” or “west front”, of the shack’s inhabitants as “the troops”, signing the little notes he leaves for them with “Soldier Devernois” etc. His military slang involves plain everything. His voice is always raised, not seldomly shouting. His gladly exposed humor is a mixture of "jovial irony and persistent cynism", as Marc puts it. One aspect of Lucien's changing behavior is his generosity, mainly shown in the series' first part by the amount of money and time he invests in the renovation of the shack and his thoughts on buying Marc a seal ring for his letters, assuming he would like that a lot. Figuring Lucien’s exact character is hard since most of his behaviour is acted out. The purpose of that is not always clear, other than Lucien’s trait to amuse himself by arguments or watching others lose their tempers. More often than expected though, he means to talk serious, and fails to convince his dialogue partner for different reasons. One is that mostly he is interrupted because his rambling is hard to stand, another that he does little to gain fondness from his housemates and comes up with matters requiring a high level of trust he did not exactly strive to earn. He is, like Marc and Mathias an engaged researcher concerning his adored “age”, World War I. Lucien’s passion is best explainable with a translated quote taken from his discussion about the brevity of his sphere of historical interest: "A monumental mistake. World War I is an abyss, a black hole of mankind, a seismic tremor, in which the key to all catastrophes is lying. History isn’t for calming the human being but for warning it.” Other dedications of his are food, cooking and other household chores. He is in general very tidy and puts great value to the condition of the kitchen and, especially the dining table he brought into the shack and diligently waxes everyday. He rebukes every kind of mess and fixes it without procrastination and often without the approval of the disarray’s owner. Talents Lucien’s intelligence is undeniable and, though not openly, appreciated by Marc, who calls it higher than Louis’ and his own together (although that might as well just have been a hyperbole to defend Lucien). With his interest in cooking comes his skill. Lucien is an extremely exact cook who hates being interrupted while at it. His food always proves popular amongst the shack’s residents. Due to the perfectionism he shows when it comes to chores, he enjoys cleaning and very diligently exterminates all filth he can spot, especially around the kitchen and on the kitchen instruments. Relationships Marc Vandoosler The combination of Lucien’s omnipresent provocation and Marc’s fractiousness is an uneasy mixture. While Marc loses his mind regularly, Lucien usually stays composed in return, which enrages Marc only the faster. Their conflict is based on a deeper level. Lucien’s pessimistic and sarcastic comments threaten Marc’s very fragile and very precious stability, which makes Lucien Marc’s natural enemy. Still, the two believe in each other as is shown in several conversations the two have with other characters when separated. Mathias Delamarre Mathias is often the one to silence Lucien, but he never shows himself affected by Lucien’s disconcerting behaviour other than that. Armand Vandoosler Lucien and Vandoosler senior share the habits of observation and exhibited superiority, as well as the understanding of seemingly mischevious methods being useful to reach a good goal. They acknowledge each other. As a lover of well made food, Lucien also appreciates the gratin Vandoosler senior is able to make. Louis Kehlweiler Lucien's seemingly reckless behaviour concerning his task on watchig over Clement, a mentally disabled man who is suspected to be a serial killer succeeds to drive even Louis mad enough to shout and insult Lucien for his theory that proves Clement to be innocent. Lucien doesn't lose his temper though which makes Louis realise Lucien to be a partially very affable person. The historian gains his final apprectaion when his theory proves to be right in the end of ''Sans feu ni lieu. Émilie Susprisingly, Lucien is the only one of the Three Evangelists to have an apparent committed relationship with a woman. Émilie is first mentioned as “a female friend of Lucien” in Sans feu ni lieu and named as well as hinted to be his girlfriend in Pars vite et reviens tard'' by the two spending'' time together in Lucien’s room. Trivia * Lucien doesn't let an opportunity slip to make noise, which makes him go for every stimulant he comes across such as coffee or alcohole. * He sings when he is drunk, preferably the Marseillaise. * He values sleep. * When he's excited in some way, his cheeks grow red and his forehead starts sweating a little. * He has some kind of electronics knowledge. Gallery Saint Luke Flatcolour png.png|Lucien as Saint Luke (in the refectory's high window) by Gallifreyan-church-nerd Category:Character Category:Evangelist